Former SkyTrain Head to Independently Review Disruption Response Plans

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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TransLink CEO Ian Jarvis has announced that the former chief executive officer of Toronto’s GO Transit, Gary McNeil, has agreed to conduct an independent review of two recent SkyTrain service disruptions. Before retiring as GO Transit’s top executive in 2013, Gary McNeil was in charge of planning, design, construction, testing and commissioning of the initial operations of the Vancouver SkyTrain.

The prepared statement issued by Jarvis mentioned that McNeil will conduct a “thorough review” of TransLink’s response plan for major service disruptions and identify improvements. It was explained that the review will determine steps that could prevent major service disruptions and essential improvements that would allow the SkyTrain system to resume full service more quickly. In addition to that, the independent review will also evaluate TransLink’s response plan for major system outages from operational, customer safety and customer service and public communications perspectives.

The review prompted by two recent malfunctions on TransLink’s SkyTrain system, which left many passengers stranded, is anticipated to be completed by October’s end. Jarvis stressed that McNeil’s “expertise will be invaluable in helping TransLink improve the way we respond to major disruptions in service, which although rare, are frustrating for our customers and can cause people to self-evacuate the trains, creating further delays and potentially putting their safety at risk.” Furthermore, Jarvis alleged that “we have learned important lessons over the past 11 days, and as a result of our internal review, we’ve already implemented and started on a number of improvements.”